Defeat Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old defeat quotes, defeat sayings, and defeat proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. Napoleon Hill
Defeat should never be a source of discouragement but rather a fresh stimulus. Robert South
Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it. Josephus Daniels
Anyone can deal with victory. Only the mighty can bear defeat. Adolf Hitler
Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. George Edward
Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. F. Scott Fitzgerald
The art of victory is learned in defeat. Simon Bolivar
You've got to learn to survive a defeat. That's when you develop character. Richard Nixon
It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone. Abdul Kalam
Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat. Anais Nin
Defeat is only a word. Defeat was the beginning of a victory. Launa Rissadia
An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory. Millard Fillmore
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. Maya Angelou
Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it. Joe Clark
It is defeat that lives on and takes the years to smother. Ben Robertson
A man can be destroyed but not defeated. Ernest Hemingway
You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat. Joel Osteen
Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality. Bruce Lee
Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out. Edwin Markham
Defeat is in your mind. Resilience is in your soul. Keri Murphy
If you live long enough, you'll see that every victory turns into a defeat. Simone De Beauvoir
The taste of defeat has a richness of experience all its own. Bill Bradley
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories. Michel de Montaigne
It is not defeat that destroys you,it is being demoralized by defeat that destroy you. Imran Khan
Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits. Richard M. Nixon
Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better. Wendell Phillips
If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost. Zig Ziglar
There is no defeat except for those who give up. Joseph B. Wirthlin
Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. Marilyn vos Savant
Failure, loss and defeat are just mile markers on the road to success. Jeffrey Fry
Defeat is not worth thinking about. Alan Shearer
When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield. Quintilian
Defeat brings a lesson, it gives a chance to rebuild, a chance to start again, with the knowledge of what does not work. Leon Brown
Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat. Jean-Paul Sartre
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat. Napoleon Bonaparte
Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional. Roger Crawford
Defeat is a state of mind. You are defeated only when you accept defeat, and assume the hopeless mindset of a defeated person. Donald Trump
A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means. Sallust
Do not be afraid of defeat. You are never so near victory as when defeated in a good cause. Henry Ward Beecher
Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. Ralph Ellison
Falling down is not defeat. Defeat is, when you refuse to get up. Paulo Coelho
I contend that not only can you laugh at adversity, but it is essential to do so if you are to deal with setbacks without defeat. Allen Klein
When we pray we admit defeat. Anthony Burgess
History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. B. C. Forbes
If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right. Bill Cosby
To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat. Beverley Nichols
Take a good look at your failure, and then say with gritty determination, You're not going to keep me down! I may be defeated, but I'm not giving up! Carl Sommer
Courage is more important than to be deceived by shallow victory waiting for a delayed defeat. Dejan Stojanovic
To give up is to invite complete defeat. Giving up contributes to an ultimate defeat of the personality. It tends to develop a defeat psychology. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
But man is not made for defeat, he said. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. Ernest Hemingway
It’s easy to do anything in victory. It’s in defeat that a man reveals himself. Floyd Patterson
Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. George E. Woodberry
Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self defense against a homicidal maniac. George Orwell
While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done. Helen Keller
Hope is the last thing a person does before they are defeated. Henry Rollins
A lost battle is a battle one thinks one has lost. Jean Paul Sartre
When we allow bad times to linger too long in our minds, they become more than just a feeling of defeat. They become a season of discouragement. Jerry Grillo
The more you talk about negative things in your life, the more you call them in. Speak victory not defeat. Joel Osteen
Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. John F. Kennedy
Beauty deprived of its proper foils and adjuncts ceases to be enjoyed as beauty, just as light deprived of all shadows ceases to be enjoyed as light. John Ruskin
Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory. John Steinbeck
Learn a word from a win, but learn a whole book from a defeat. M.K. Soni
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi
Every witness will rejoice at the work God did. This is God's goal for you. This is your inheritance: more victory than defeat, more joy than sadness, more hope than despair. Max Lucado
While one may encounter many defeats, one must not be defeated. Maya Angelou
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even. Muhammad Ali
When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the majority of men do. Napoleon Hill
Time is a master worker that heals the wounds of temporary defeat, and equalizes the inequalities and rights the wrongs of the world. Napoleon Hill
Defeat happens only to those who refuse to try again. Nick Vujicic
As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss. Noam Chomsky
Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory. Norman Vincent Peale
There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time. Og Mandino
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beware how you take away hope from any human being. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Fear makes us look for someone to blame, throw up our hands in defeat, and give in to a victim mentality. Faith chooses to face the challenge with hope in a brighter tomorrow. Penny Hunt
We are never defeated unless we give up on God. Ronald Reagan
Never stop just because you feel defeated. The journey to the other side is attainable only after great suffering. Santosh Kalwar
Learn to celebrate your successes and acknowledge your defeats, but then move on to the next opportunity and challenge. Stedman Graham
If you can accept losing, you can’t win. Vince Lombardi
To courageously straighten up again after our heads have been bowed by defeat, disappointment and suffering is a supreme test of character. Wilferd Peterson
The light, that lies In woman's eyes, Has been my heart's undoing. Thomas More